


Unexpected

by jesileigh



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Baby Daddy, F/M, Fluff, Pregnancy, Prison, Spec
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 00:11:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14390025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesileigh/pseuds/jesileigh
Summary: Oliver is in prison and Felicity is struggling to hold it together. And that's before she hears the news.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Humongous thanks to the always fabulous @TheMMS for the beta on this and for always pushing me to be a better writer every step of the way <3

Tensions in the Smoak-Queen-Clayton household have reached an all-time high in the wake of the guilty verdict. Felicity’s stomach still twists in knots every time her mind replays that moment. And it’s been on repeat at least fifty times a day for the last week. Oliver’s stoic face as they read the judgment. William’s hand squeezing hers and the sound of his choked back sob as they say goodbye. She’d cried for hours that night with her face buried in a pillow so William wouldn’t hear her, alternating between pleading with whatever deity would have her to bring her husband back and cursing him for breaking his promise that he’d always come back to her. For leaving her just like everyone else had. She was certain that if she had been in the bunker that night, he would be at home in her arms instead of behind bars facing a life sentence. And every night since then Felicity has woken in a cold sweat with the vision of Oliver looking over his shoulder at them burned into her mind, trying his hardest to assure them he’d be okay as they watch him leave in handcuffs, helpless to save him.

Her husband is basically in limbo right now--waiting in his cell for his attorney to push an appeal through, or Felicity to find a way to overturn the evidence or for John and Lyla to secure a presidential pardon for all of the good he’s done as the Green Arrow. So it’s basically been her and William against the world. She knows that she’s been uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn, trying to cover up the bone-deep exhaustion with an echo of a smile and atrocious attempts at cooking William’s favorite foods for him. And William, the sweetheart, tries to choke down anything she puts in front of him. She can’t even make jokes to pretend she’s okay anymore, and while she knows he really misses his dad Felicity is doing everything she can to be the parent he needs her to be.   
It’s the ninth day since his sentencing and she’s standing in the kitchen, nearly dozing off after rushing back from the bunker with just enough time to see William off to school. She has both hands planted on the countertop with her eyes closed when her step-son comes out for breakfast. She’s placed a burnt omelette and some fruit heaped haphazardly on a plate in front of his usual spot and he slides onto the stool quietly. She knows he’d probably be better off with a bowl of cereal or a Pop-Tart, but Oliver worked so hard to make him a healthy, home-cooked breakfast every morning and Felicity is so desperate to maintain some semblance of normality for him. She feels like she’s failing on so many levels and her inability to cook a decent egg isn’t helping at all.

“Morning, Felicity,” Will says softly as he slides into his seat. She takes a moment to gather her thoughts and then forces a smile before she responds.

“Hey, buddy. How did you sleep?”

“Better than you, apparently,” he says pointedly.

“Well, any sleep is better than no sleep, so you’re not wrong,” she says with a half-hearted shrug.

“What time did you get home?” William asks, cautiously taking a bite of the part of the omelette that looks the most edible.

“Uh…” Felicity tilts her head to read the clock over the stove and sighs before turning back to answer him. “Thirty minutes ago?”

“Any luck?”

“None of the good variety,” she huffs. “But you leave the worrying to me. You focus on school and...and…” she trails off as a wave of nausea and dizziness comes over her, causing her to sway where she stands. 

“Felicity? Are...are you okay?” Will asks, his brow furrowed in concern. Felicity blinks a couple of times and shakes her head to try clear it.

“Yeah. Sorry.” She winces. “I just feel a little lightheaded, that’s all. It’s probably because of the night I had,” she explains, trying to reassure him. She takes a deep breath and steadies herself, but she can’t seem to shake the woozy feeling that has her off-balance.

“Maybe you should go lie down?” he suggests. And he probably has a point, but she knows she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, so she just waves a hand at him.

“I’m fine. I have to get back to the bunker after I drop you off at school so I can finish the...finish...the uh,” she closes her eyes and grips the countertop as she’s slammed with another wave of queasiness, her knuckles turning white from how tightly she’s holding onto it. And then out of nowhere her legs give out from underneath her and she collapses, the world around her fading as she hears William’s voice calling out to her.

 

…..

 

The steady beeping of the heart monitor lulls her back into consciousness and she slowly blinks herself awake, realizing that she’s in a hospital bed. Star City General’s austere walls have become all too familiar to her in the past few years.

“Felicity?” 

She turns her head, half-expecting to see Oliver by her side until she reminds herself that he can’t be. Instead, it’s her stepson in the chair by her bed where his father should be, his voice quivering as he asks, “How are you feeling?” 

“Awful,” she says. “What happened?”

“You passed out,” William tells her. “You collapsed in the kitchen and I had to call an ambulance and for a second I thought--” he stops, biting his lip. He doesn’t finish the sentence, but Felicity can hear it in his tone: he thought he was going to lose her too. She reaches for him, grasping his hand in her own. “I’m just so glad you’re okay, Felicity. They’re running a bunch of tests. The doctor said something about low blood sugar and--” he’s interrupted by a couple of knocks on the door and its opening. 

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Dr. Schwartz says as she enters the room. She closes the door behind her and comes to the end of the bed, looking from William to Felicity with sympathy in her eyes. “How are you feeling?” she asks.

“Like I got hit with a truck, if I’m being honest,” Felicity admits. 

“Well, that’s understandable. William here told me that you haven’t been eating or sleeping much in the past week or so.” Felicity shoots William a look and he puts his hands up defensively, just like his father would have done. “I’d like to keep you here overnight for observation,” Dr. Schwartz continues, and Felicity feels her chest restrict with panic.

“But what about--”

“Digg is on his way,” William interjects. “He said I could stay with him and Lyla tonight if they wanted to keep you.” Felicity just stares at him with an open mouth for a moment. “I’ll be fine, Felicity. But you--” he swallows hard and averts his gaze, staring at the floor as he swipes the back of his hand over his eyes. “You have to be okay.” She feels the sting of tears prick her eyes and she squeezes his hand to reassure him.

“I’m going to be. I promise,” she says with as much conviction as she can muster. He looks up at her and nods to let her know he believes her and then Dr. Schwartz clears her throat, startling both of them.

“We ran some tests and checked everything we could,” she tells them. “Your blood sugar was dangerously low and you were showing signs of dehydration as well, so we set up an IV to bring you back to where you should be. There is one other thing, however,” she adds, reading over the chart in her hands. Felicity’s stomach drops at that and she feels William’s grip on her hand tighten as well as they wait for the doctor to continue. “Your blood tests showed that you were severely anemic, and we also noticed that your hCG level is around 100,000.” 

Out of the corner or her eye, Felicity can see William tilt his head to the side as he tries to decipher the medical jargon, but she feels like she’s just been hit with a ton of bricks out of nowhere. 

“HCG?” Williams asks. “What is--”

“It’s a hormone that indicates pregnancy,” Felicity says quietly. 

“That’s right,” Dr. Schwartz confirms, nodding. “An hCG level that high puts you somewhere between 9 and 12 weeks along.”

Felicity opens her mouth to say something, but she doesn’t seem to be capable of forming any words all of a sudden. It feels like the world is spinning out of control or like she’s been doused in freezing cold water and her lungs are desperate to take in air but she can’t figure out how to breathe. She can hear William asking a question, but her ears are ringing and she can’t focus on his voice. 

“No, no, no--” she manages, shaking her head frantically. “That can’t be right. You have to run the test again because I can’t--this isn’t-- _ please _ .” She looks to Dr. Schwartz, pleading with her to tell her all of this was a mistake. 

“We ran the test twice, Felicity,” she says softly. “We had to make sure so that we knew what medications we could administer.” 

“You don’t understand,” Felicity insists through clenched teeth. “I  _ can’t _ be--” she bites her tongue, unable to bring herself to even say the word aloud. “Please. Not like this.  _ Please _ ...” She knows she isn’t making any sense, but the panic is welling up inside of her and spilling out anyway it can.

“I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now,” the doctor says in an attempt to soothe her. “I understand this isn’t the best timing. I’m going to give you a moment to process everything and I’ll be back in a few minutes with a nurse from obstetrics, okay?” Dr. Schwartz slides her chart back into its slot and gives her one final sympathetic look before she exits the room, leaving her alone with her spiraling thoughts and a teenage boy. She bursts into tears the second the door shuts.

“Felicity?” William asks, hesitant. “Those...those don’t look like happy tears.” Felicity almost laughs at how bewildered the boy sounds, but the vise around her chest is barely allowing her enough oxygen to cry, let alone laugh so it comes out choked. “This is good news, isn’t it?” he asks, sounding so hopeful that it makes her cry even harder.

“I can hardly manage to take care of  _ us _ , Will. This isn’t how it was supposed to be,” she sobs, her voice breaking. And she knows she sounds like a petulant child, but in this moment she doesn’t care. “I can’t do this. I can’t do this alone and I just--”

“But you’re not alone,” William insists, and his hand is back on top of hers again. “You have me. And Dad  _ will _ come back. I know he will.” He sounds so assured and Felicity wishes she had even an ounce of that at the moment because all she can see in front of her is a life she tried so hard to avoid for herself. A life she swore by the time she was Will’s age that she would never give a child. 

“I can help,” he continues. “Plus we have Raisa, and Digg and Aunt Thea. We’ll be okay until Dad comes home, I know we will.”

“Oh, Will,” she sighs, and suddenly she’s crying for a totally different reason. 

“You’re the one who always tells me we have to believe that he’ll come home to us. And once he finds out about the baby, he’ll have even more of a reason to keep his promise. And for what it’s worth,” he adds, ducking his head shyly. “I think you’re already nailing the whole mom thing. You’re going to be totally badass.” He grins at her and she can’t help but laugh through her tears at him. She sniffles and wipes the tears from her cheeks.

“I love you, kid. You know that, right?” she manages to tell him. And William’s cheeks go pink as Felicity realizes it’s the first time she’s actually said it to his face. But she means it, with every fiber of her being. “I’ll always be sorry for how it happened, but I’m thankful every single day that I get to have you in my life. And you’re going to be a totally badass big brother.” William grins and it goes all the way to his eyes, just like Oliver when he smiles at her. It sends a pang through her chest at the thought of him sitting in a cold cell all alone and her throat tightens again when she realizes she’s going to have to tell him through bulletproof glass that she’s having his baby. The thought has her giving a humorless laugh as she wonders how life could have such a cruel sense of humor to put her in this situation after everything that had happened with Cooper. All of that feels like a lifetime ago, but the pain and heartache she felt then is nothing compared to what she’s experiencing now. 

“How are we gonna tell Dad?” William wonders aloud, interrupting Felicity’s downward spiral into all the ways life isn’t fair. “Can we bring him one of those picture things they take? The ones where the baby looks like a little alien?” 

“An ultrasound?” Felicity clarifies with a watery chuckle. William shrugs. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t really know when they--” there’s a knock and the door is opening again. John peeks his head in and smiles in relief when he sees her and suddenly she’s feeling incredibly emotional all over again. “John?” she nearly whimpers.

“Hey you,” he says, heading straight for her and leaning in to kiss her head. “How are you feeling? Everything okay?”

“Felicity’s having a baby!” William announces with enthusiasm before Felicity can even get a word out, his face lit up like it’s Christmas morning. It takes a second, but then John’s face is mirroring William’s.

“You’re pregnant?” he asks. 

“Narc,” Felicity says with a dirty look in William’s direction. He makes a face that’s somewhere between guilty and bashful.

“Oops, sorry.”

“Felicity, that’s fantastic news!” John says, leaning in to hug her. “Oliver is going to be over the moon.” Felicity scoffs at that.

“Yes, I’m sure my baby daddy currently serving a life sentence in prison is going to be so excited to miss out on yet another of his children’s lives,” she says bitterly before she can stop herself. There’s a pang of guilt when she sees both William and John’s faces fall and she sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I’m just--I never thought this would be my life so I’m sorry if I’m not really up to jumping for joy right now.”

“Nobody could blame you for that, Felicity,” John tells her. “This life isn’t easy, but you knew that going in, didn’t you?” She shrugs helplessly, trying to fight the tears that she feels welling up again. “Lyla is in talks with D.C. this week on Oliver’s behalf. If she can show enough proof that the Green Arrow and his team were behind saving the world from Genesis Day and a couple of invasions from other Earths, maybe we can get him out of there in time to paint the nursery and build the crib.”

“And if we don’t?” Felicity asks.

“Then it’s a good thing I have some experience in that department,” John says with a soft smile, reaching out to squeeze Felicity’s hand. 

“See?” William pipes up from the other side of her bed. “I told you you wouldn’t be doing this alone. We’re going to be just fine,” he assures her.

“And I think this might be one way we can expedite the process, if we play our cards right,” John adds thoughtfully. “But you let me worry about that. You stay here, rest up and follow the doctor’s instructions. William is going to hang out with JJ for a few days while Lyla and I keep working to bring Oliver home.”

“Dig’s right,” William says.

“He usually is,” Felicity agrees. “Thank you. Both of you.”

“We’re family, that’s what we do,” John says simply. William smiles and nods.

“I’m going to need some time to process this before I tell Oliver,” she confesses.

“Take all the time you need,” Dig insists. “Our lips are sealed. Right?” he shoots a pointed look at William who nods seriously.

“I promise I won’t say anything until you tell me I can,” he tells her. 

“Good. Then why don’t you and I go pick up your bag and head home?” John asks William. “I think Lyla will want to stop by, if you’ll let me fill her in. I feel like she might be a good person to talk to about all of this. After all, she had a baby daddy in prison a couple of years ago 

too, remember?” he adds, winking. Felicity can’t help the laugh that bubbles up in her chest at that and John returns her smile. 

“I’d like that,” she says. 

“I’ll text you to check in later,” William tells her. “Please sleep. And eat.”

“Okay, okay,” Felicity says with mock annoyance. “Calm down, Oliver Junior.”

“I did promise him I’d take care of you while he’s away,” William says with a bit of pride in his tone. “Or, at least I promised I wouldn’t let you burn down the kitchen.” They all laugh at that, and Felicity can feel a bit of the weight lift. 

William and John spend a bit longer by her bedside finding ways to make her smile before they take off together. Felicity listens to Dr. Schwartz when she encourages her to take something for her anxiety, and she ends up sleeping for nearly 18 hours straight before waking up to find Lyla in her room. She’s still there when the doctor comes back with a sonogram machine to make sure everything checks out before they can discharge her and Felicity is so grateful to have a friend by her side when she hears her baby’s heartbeat for the very first time. They estimate she’s around twelve weeks along and in the final few days of the first trimester. Felicity doesn’t tell them as much, but she knows it jives with the calculations she’d made based on the date of her last period, making the date of conception the first night Oliver had stubbornly gone into the field without her on the comms and nearly gotten himself blown up as a result. 

She still grieves that her husband can’t be there to experience this moment with her, but she holds his copy of the sonogram against her and makes a promise that she’ll visit to give him the news as soon as she can. She has the technician print a third copy and presents it to the baby’s very proud big brother who immediately pins it up on the wall by his bed. 

It takes some tears and pleading with Dinah to convince the guards to allow her to visit with Oliver face to face, without glass between them. In the end it’s entirely worth it to see the look he gives her when she slides the sonogram across the table to him. His blue eyes shine with unshed tears as he looks up from the picture with disbelief and he ignores the guards yelling at them when he comes around the table to scoop her up into his arms.

It’s bittersweet, saying goodbye to him after their visit ends, but for the first time in months, she feels something like hope beginning to bloom in her chest, to know that even if Oliver can’t be by her side physically that he’s still there in spirit. He watches her leave the visiting room, the ultrasound photo clutched to his chest. As she walks out of Iron Heights, her hand absently drifts to her midsection, resting over the place where she knows there’s a life growing inside of her. A life they created together. And in that moment she knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he will do whatever it takes to keep his promise to come home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope is hard to come by for someone like Oliver Queen, but between his family waiting for him and John and Lyla doing the best they can to bring him home, it hasn’t been in short supply for him lately, despite everything. And for now, that’s all he needs until he’s back where he belongs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks to @TheMMs for being a phenomenal beta. She really knows how to take the rocks I give her and polish them into gems. <3

“Rise and shine, Robin Hood!” calls the guard, banging his baton against the metal bars. Oliver takes a moment before he opens his eyes and turns onto his side to see the man sneering at him. “Looks like you made it through one more night.”

“I guess I did,” Oliver responds evenly. It’s just as surprising to him that he’s managed to last this long in the general population of Iron Heights, given that he’s at least assisted with putting a huge majority of the inmates in here in the first place.

“That’s fine. I have next Friday in the betting pool anyway,” the guard says with a shrug. He slowly continues on his way past Oliver’s cell but holds his gaze, doing his best to let him know exactly who has the power in the situation. 

He lets out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding and turns to face the wall where he’s put up the photos Felicity and Will have been bringing him. His eyes wander over the faces of his loved ones--William holding a trophy next to his science fair project, a photo of Felicity and him on vacation in Bali from what feels like a lifetime ago, and then there’s the only one they have of the three of them together as a family, taken at their wedding reception. His eyes land on the newest addition to his collection. It’s grainy and indiscernible if he’s being honest and the edges are worn down, but to Oliver it’s the only shred of hope he’s had in this dismal place in weeks and when he isn’t in his cell he keeps it folded up in the pocket of his orange prison jumpsuit. 

_ “I have some news,” Felicity says, and Oliver notices how her voice wavers with emotion, but he’s so damn happy to have her in front of him without glass between them that he doesn’t pay much attention to the way she’s fidgeting in her seat.  _

_ “Good news, I hope?” he asks. Because the last thing he needs is another dose of the bad kind. He’s had more than enough of that lately. _

_ “I guess it depends on your outlook,” she says with a huff of laughter. “I, for one, cried for a couple of days when I found out, but maybe you’re sticking with that whole ‘glass half-full’ thing you’ve been going for lately.” Oliver frowns in concern at that, his stomach dropping and his heart pounding in his chest. _

_ “Are you okay? Is everything okay with Will, or--” _

_ “No, no, we’re totally fine!” she insists. “Or well...fine might be too strong of a word. Maybe what I mean to say is nobody’s dying but that doesn’t mean--” _

_ “Fe-li-ci-ty,” he interrupts, reaching to put a hand over the top of hers to keep her still and calm her down. The feel of her skin against his has his chest aching. It’s only been two weeks since the trial but he already feels like it’s been an eternity since he’s held her. _

_ “Sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just…” she trails off as her voice cracks, her eyes glassy as she stares at their hands clasped together. “God, this is just so much harder than I thought it would be and I--” _

_ “I know,” he assures her. “Me too.” She looks up at him and swallows hard, choking back the tears long enough to remove her hands from his, reach in her coat pocket and slide a small piece of paper across the table to him. He tilts his head as he reaches for it, studying it until recognition dawns on him and everything clicks. _

_ “Congratulations to us,” she says, her voice hollow. He looks up to her tear-stained face and back down at the picture again, not daring to believe what’s right in front of him. _

_ “Felicity this is--oh my God. We’re...we’re having a baby?” he asks. She glances up and gives a small nod, her lower lip trembling, and he can’t contain himself a moment longer. He jumps up from the table and goes to her, pulling her out of her chair and into his arms.  _

_ “Hey! No hugs!” The guard shouts, but Oliver ignores him and holds onto his wife even tighter, burying his face in her hair and breathing her in for the first time in weeks. Felicity’s arms slip around him and she’s holding onto him with everything in her, sobbing into his chest.  _

_ “We’re having a baby,” he repeats, awestruck. “This is...Felicity, this is incredible. I love you. I love you so much.” _

_ “I love you, too,” she says, her voice muffled a bit. “Do you think they’ll shoot you if I kiss you right now?” she adds, and Oliver just laughs. _

_ “I’m willing to risk it.” She pulls back to look at him and he takes her in for a moment, her cheeks streaked with tears, her eyes red from crying. Then he cups her face in his hands and presses his lips to hers, trying his hardest to give her everything he can. It’s not lost on him that this could be their first and last kiss for a long time, so he makes the most of it until the guard is shouting again. _

_ “Queen! That’s enough!”  _

Oliver pulls the sonogram photo off the wall and holds it, just staring at the vague blob in the middle of the paper, labeled “baby” with a little arrow pointing to it. The edges of the photo are worn, but it’s by far his favorite possession right now. It’s been a couple of months since he’d heard the news, and it’s bittersweet but he absolutely loves watching as Felicity’s belly gets bigger and bigger with every single visit. He gets choked up just thinking about the first time she came into the visitation room with the beginnings of a bump under her sweater. He’d give anything to lay with her at night and just talk to his unborn child while Felicity runs her fingers through his hair and stares down at them lovingly or to be able to press kisses to where his baby is growing inside of her whenever he feels the urge. 

Sometimes, she and Will come together and Will tells him all about Felicity’s cravings (“It’s disgusting, Dad. Who eats pickles and chocolate frosting with their ice cream?”) while Felicity beams with pride and talks about how Will has been doing everything he can to help with cooking and cleaning around the house (“Thank God for Will because it’s really hard to load the dishwasher when your baby keeps doing parkour on my internal organs, Oliver!”). He hates feeling jealous of his son for being there for Felicity while he can’t, but when they sit in front of him and laugh together about all these moments they get to share that he isn’t a part of, the regret is uncontrollable. He feels like an outsider in his own family--a family he always dreamed of but never thought he’d get a chance to have in the first place. Life can be cruel in its irony.

Sometimes he returns to his cell feeling optimistic and confident about their life without him. His wife and son have clearly found some kind of rhythm and routine together. They’re an unstoppable team and Oliver could not be more proud of how resilient the two of them are. But more often than not, he ends up pacing his cell, hating himself for leaving them to fend for themselves like this. William is fourteen. He should be flirting with girls, playing sports and worrying about getting decent grades in school instead of focusing on helping his stepmother through her pregnancy while his father sits in prison. And Felicity--his heart hurts just thinking about her lately. How could he do this to her? What kind of a monster lets this happen to his family? 

He sighs and swallows the lump in his throat, folding the sonogram in half and putting it in his pocket where it will stay right next to his heart for the rest of the day. Next week, Felicity has another ultrasound appointment and they’ll find out if they’re expecting a son or a daughter. Oliver can’t wait to add an updated photo to his collection. Maybe he’ll actually be able to discern their baby’s features this time. His heart swells at the idea that he might be able to count little fingers and toes or decide whether it’s got his nose or his Felicity’s ears. He spends a lot of his downtime fantasizing about a life where he’s home with his wife and his son and a tiny little girl with Felicity’s curls and Will’s sense of humor. As hopeless as life can seem behind the walls of Iron Heights, at least he has this. Hope is hard to come by for someone like Oliver Queen, but between his family waiting for him and John and Lyla doing the best they can to bring him home, it hasn’t been in short supply for him lately, despite everything. And for now, that’s all he needs until he’s back where he belongs. 


End file.
